The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Waiting for an opportunity to make their mark

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Friday, Jul 11, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Waiting for an opportunity to make their mark

Priscilla Jebaraj

Physically challenged students reveal their aspirations at session

With 340 applicants for a 2,228-seat quota, students can afford to pick and choose
Many engineering colleges do not have disabled-friendly infrastructure

CHENNAI: They may not be able to see, hear or walk very well. But the 340 physically challenged students who were allotted engineering college seats on Thursday take the top ranks when it comes to mental ability, ambition and sheer determination.

Anbumalar needs special orthopaedic shoes, a walker and a strong companion to help her negotiate the stairs as she goes through the counselling process at Anna University.

Making friends

None of that is stopping the Cuddalore native from aspiring to be an electronics and communication engineering student at the Thanthai Periyar Government Institute of Technology, Vellore.

“I don’t think they have any special facilities like ramps or special toilets. But I have been in hostel already for school. So long as I have a ground floor room, I will be alright … I have always had friends to help me, and I expect to make friends in college as well,” she says.

For S. Umesh, who has had cerebral palsy from birth, a college in his hometown of Erode was essential, so he is thrilled with his admission to the Computer Science stream in Kongu Engineering College.

Constant physiotherapy has helped strengthen his weak arm muscles, but he still finds writing difficult. “He was given one hour extra time during his school exams. We just hope he will get the same here. That’s all we are asking for,” says his mother C. Jayasree.

Rachit Maheshwari, who also has cerebral palsy, did his homework on disability-friendly colleges and settled on SSN College of Engineering. “It has all the facilities …,” he says.

Unfortunately, he missed the SSN seat by one mark, and hopes that the college he is settling for will have similar facilities.

Regardless of the infrastructure, he is determined to make his mark and hopes to go on to a career in the civil service.

K. Senthamilselvi, one of the doctors from the Anna University Health Centre who is checking the candidates, is impressed with the grit of physically challenged students.

Making strides

“They don’t ask for any special treatment. Most colleges don’t have infrastructural facilities for them, or any scribes or special software. But they manage, usually with the help of friends. By the time they are in final year, you will not even notice that they are different,” she says.

Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions secretary V. Rhymend Uthariaraj says all colleges are required to have disabled-friendly infrastructure according to AICTE norms, but admits that many don’t fulfil these requirements.

With only 340 applicants for a 2,228-seat quota, students can afford to pick and choose among the colleges. Of course, if facilities were improved, more candidates might be able to apply.

Ray of hope

There may be some hope for these candidates in the shape of the newly appointed Commissioner for Technical Education V.K. Jeyakodi, whose previous posting was Commissioner for the Disabled.

“In the long run, educational institutions will have to provide disabled-friendly infrastructure and also aids such as Braille libraries, voice-activated systems and talking software,” he says.

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